The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Central government and the office of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on a plea of the state government accusing him of not granting assent to several bills cleared by the legislative assembly.

The apex court took note of the submissions of senior advocate K K Venugopal, alleging delay on the part of the governor in granting assent to eight bills. The top court also issued a notice to Attorney General R Venkataramani asking that either he or Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assist it in the hearing.

“This is an endemic situation. The governors do not realise that they are part of the legislature under Article 168 of the Constitution,” Venugopal said.

“Mr Venugopal submits that – 1. The governor is a part of the legislature under Art 162; 2. The governor had promulgated three ordinances which were later converted into those passed by legislature; 3. As many as eight bills are pending consideration for assent ranging from 7 to 21 months,” the court said in its order.

The court will now hear the Kerala government’s plea on Friday.

A similar plea has been filed by the Tamil Nadu government as well and is also being heard by the top court.